Announcing the New and Improved Collectionbuddy.com

Its been almost a year since we first launched Collectionbuddy.com. I would like to say that we started out humbly trying to build a great site for collectors, however, in reality we started out with a somewhat unachievable goal of trying to build the ultimate online database of collectibles. We realized that it would be impossible to achieve the goal by ourselves and we would have to rely on our users uploading their collections. Most collectors we spoke to believed that in theory this was a great concept but in reality nobody was going to spend the time scanning in their collection and uploading it to the site!

We started to look at alternative ways in which we could acquire data that would be valuable to a community of collectors. At the same time we took a hard look at the usage paradigm and started to consider how we could make the site as usable and friendly to the widest range of users, from the tech savvy to the collector who just uses email and eBay.

The result is the new and improved Collectionbuddy.com. 

The new Collectionbuddy consists of many collecting clubs. Each collecting club is a place where collectors of similar items can "gather" and find relevant and timely information about their collections, research collectibles and engage in conversations and discussions with like minded club members.

Now there are many sites and forums on the internet where collectors already congregate and meet. There are vibrant discussion groups in many categories and lots of web sites that offer advise, blogs and feature collectibles. 

Our goal with collectionbuddy is to create a platform where online collection clubs would benefit from the latest web technologies and would be able to present collectors with information and tools that they have never had access to.

As an example, we have concluded license agreements which will show collectors in a particular club the value of their collectibles ( based on previous historical sales data). Collectors can now spend time researching the value of collectibles and finding items that they would like to acquire. There is no membership fee and no cost to research.

Each club will have many more features, such as the latest news and information written by experts in the field, a membership roster to contact other collectors, a forum for discussions and the ability for collectors to manage and value their collections online.

We are starting out with a beta version of the site and have licensed content in the categories of Comics, Postcards, Hot Wheels, Watches and Murano Glass. We are gong to spend the next few months tweaking the site (with feedback from our users), making it faster and more usable and we will start incrementally expanding the number of clubs we have.

We are actively looking for collectors who would like to operate a club. We provide all the technology to allow you to write articles and moderate discussions. Contact us for more information.

Finally, this is just the beginning of the next phase. We have lots of ideas and we are confident that we will achieve our goal of being the ultimate destination site for collectors.

Comments

[John]

Very impressive service.

I'm missing a date however on previous listed items. Which would help a ton.

Thanks.

[Francine Feir]

Hi,
I have not been able to get in touch with anyone. I spent hours, with the help of Trevor and crew loading pictures of my powder compacts onto this site. For some reason my password does not work. I would love for someone to contact me so that I can continue adding and recommending other collectors.
Please help me.
Thank you.
Francine Feir